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Girlhood, Translated
Understanding Girls in the Age of Therapy Speak and Self-Diagnosis
Table of Contents
About The Book
Trauma.
ADHD.
OCD.
Toxic.
Over the past decade, psychiatrist Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell noticed that girls were coming to her office with an increasingly long list of psychiatric diagnoses, often pulled from social media. It seemed like it was becoming impossible for young women to talk about their feelings without connecting them to mental illnesses like anxiety or PTSD. At the same time, she saw a growing communication gap between the girls and their parents, who often responded to this jargon, unhelpfully, with either alarm or dismissiveness.
In Girlhood, Translated, Dr. Garfinkle-Crowell explores how ‘therapy speak’ is fundamentally reshaping the identities of girls and young women. While some terms help girls name problems and find common ground, the reflexive use of self-diagnosis inadvertently plays into the age-old cliché that teenage girls are ‘hysterical’ and ‘crazy’. Drawing on vibrant, moving stories from the therapy room, Dr. Garfinkle-Crowell helps us see that girls often rely on medical labels to be heard – and how we all might do a better job listening.
ADHD.
OCD.
Toxic.
Over the past decade, psychiatrist Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell noticed that girls were coming to her office with an increasingly long list of psychiatric diagnoses, often pulled from social media. It seemed like it was becoming impossible for young women to talk about their feelings without connecting them to mental illnesses like anxiety or PTSD. At the same time, she saw a growing communication gap between the girls and their parents, who often responded to this jargon, unhelpfully, with either alarm or dismissiveness.
In Girlhood, Translated, Dr. Garfinkle-Crowell explores how ‘therapy speak’ is fundamentally reshaping the identities of girls and young women. While some terms help girls name problems and find common ground, the reflexive use of self-diagnosis inadvertently plays into the age-old cliché that teenage girls are ‘hysterical’ and ‘crazy’. Drawing on vibrant, moving stories from the therapy room, Dr. Garfinkle-Crowell helps us see that girls often rely on medical labels to be heard – and how we all might do a better job listening.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (September 10, 2026)
- Length: 368 pages
- ISBN13: 9781398549784
Raves and Reviews
'Girlhood, Translated is both a brilliant decoding of therapy speak and a compassionate reckoning with what gets lost when the language of mental illness becomes the only language young people have for their inner lives'
– Rachel Aviv, author of You Won't Get Free of IT
‘This book will change conversations the very next day. Smart, compassionate, and bracingly clear, it distrusts quick labels while honouring real suffering. An exceptional contribution’
– Peter Fonagy, award-winning coauthor of Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self
‘Understanding girls today is impossible without seeing the culture that shapes them. "Therapy speak" has puzzled parents (me included) — and the impulse to dismiss or overreact is real. Dr. Garfinkle-Crowell explains what it means, why it's happening, and — importantly — how to respond with nuance and care. She brings seasoned medical guidance, keen cultural insight, and a deep reverence for the girls she treats. This is a voice you can trust and a resource you will rely on throughout your daughter's young adulthood’?
– Rachel Simmons, New York Times bestselling author of Odd Girl Out
‘Girlhood, Translated zaps into focus something you have both known and not known all along. Garfinkle-Crowell writes with respect and care about the complexities girls face, even as she dissects how “therapy speak” undermines the ability to effectively address them. In both insight and action, this book is absolutely indispensable for anyone raising or working with teen girls’
– Peggy Orenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Girls & Sex
‘Phenomenal, seminal. An essential timely read for anyone who works with or cares about girls’
– Catherine Steiner-Adair, author of The Big Disconnect
‘This fine book by an excellent therapist and writer offers readers a deep understanding of the internal and external problems of girls today. Best of all, she gives us ideas of how to help girls explore who they truly are and learn to tell their stories with their own true voices. I recommend this book to all who have contact with teenage girls’
– Mary Pipher, New York Times bestselling author of Reviving Ophelia and Women Rowing North
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